having said all of that, we should point out that, though, on wednesday, vice president joe biden, according to u.s. senior officials, was up on capitol hill briefing lawmakers, key lawmakers, on a variety of threats, including what is happening right now at these embassies. a senior u.s. official did say to reporters that part of that briefing did cover what that official called immediate threats, and the white house officials have been saying that the president has known about this threat for some time. it's probably better to assume that they've known about this longer than that meeting with the yemeni president, candy. >> right. probably, they discussed it. thanks so much, jim acosta. becky anderson, abu dhabi, barbara starr. i hope you both and all will stick with us. we want to move on to republican senator lindsey graham of south carolina. senator, first, as you watch this unfold, what does it -- what is your general impression here? this looks -- if you're an ordinary american, looks pretty scary. >> well, i had a briefing with the vice president. it is scary. al qaeda's on the rise